Railway equipment



0d 27, 1942- `w. VAN DER sLUYs ETAL 2,299,943

RAILWAY EQUIPMENT Filed June 27. 1940 m MTM km .mf @NIH E u. w. Nw N mme.am .www MDV/ m E l Nun ..w .mvv www Mm .NW MP m L uw W BY W,

Patented Oei. 27, 1942 UNITED s'rA'iss .PATEN T oFFicls RAILWAYEQUIPMENT 4William van Der Sluys and Percy Best,l Detroit, Mich.,assignors, by mesne assignments, to Railroad Rolling Stock Patents.Corporation,

a corporation of Delaware Application'June 27, 1940, Serial No. 342,751

l 9 Claims. (C1. 1057-190) Our invention relates to railway equipmentand pertains particularly to an improvement in trucks for use on suchequipment. y

One object of our invention is to provide a novel type of mechanism toprevent the bolster of a` truck from frictionally engaging any portionof the truck frame during normal operation and at the same time permitrelatively iree vertical and lateral movement therebetween.

Another object of our invention consists in providing a novel meanswhereby a truck bolster is permitted to move freely with respect to theas' sociated truck, frame in both vertical and lateral directions, andis permitted to move longitudinally ofthe truck frame to only a limiteddegree from`a central position thereon. and whereby such longitudinalmovement is resiliently op- A further object oi' our invention is toprovide a'novel type of thrust link which is adapted to I permit lateraland vertical'movements of a bolster of a truck and to limit longitudinalmovement thereof within predetermined limitavand which is light inweight, inexpensive to manufacture, readily replaceable and easilyinspected.

For la better understanding of our invention reference may now be had tothe accompanying drawing, of which:`

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a railway car truck embodying ourinvention.v

bolster member and thus to the car body, to the l discomfort of thepassengers. This is true because the leaf spring members I5 areshort-circuited by the engagement of the bolster members I4 and thetransom members 22. At the same time it is desirable' that the bolstermember il be permitted to move freely both in vertical andlateral'directions in order that the springs I5 and the swing links ilmay perform their functions of diminishing, cushioning and eliminatingundesirable shocks being transmitted from the Fig. 2 is a detail crosssectional view of a portion of the structure illustrated in Fig.. 1, theview being taken 'on a verticallongitudinal plane passing through thethrust link mounting on the frame of the truck. Fig. 3 is an enlargedview oi a portion of Fig..2,

showing the rubber unit in detail.

In the drawing we have illustrated a railway car truck of the typenormally used on passenger cars comprising. a truck frame Iii on which,by

means of wheel axles, not shown, are mounted the usual rail engagingwheels l2. The weight of the car'body is carried on a normally laterallycar body to the truck frame,

In order to' prevent undue movement of the bolster longitudinally orthetruck frame we have.

provided mounting members l0, one of which is rigidly secured to eachend of the bolster member Il. Secured to each of the mounting'members 30are two universal `ioints 32 and 33, the

former being secured to the rearward side and the latter tothe forwardside thereof. The expressions forward and rearward side are employed forpurposes of clarity although both ends of the truck are identical inconstruction. Secured to the universal joints 32 are a pair of rigidlink members 34, one on each side of the truck, which extend rearwardlyto universal Jointsl 35' which in turn are connected to a resilient unit36 supported on la mounting 3l secured to the truck frame Ill adjacentthe rear end thereof. 'I'he links il extend longitudinally of the truckframe as long as the bolster member I4 is centrally disposed withrespect to the extending truck bolster member I4, the ends of which aresupported upon two sets of elliptical leaf springs il, lwhichinturn restupon a transversely extending spring plank Il. This spring plank Il issupported at its ends upon swing links I1 which are pivotally mountedupon the truck frame i0 as illustrated at Il. The truck frame comprisesthe usual longitudinally extending side members 20, transverselyextending end members 2i and transversely extending intermediate members22, generally called transoms, on which the swing links i1 are pivotallymoun- The truck frame il restsat veach end on two vspaced coiled springs23 which; inturn, rest upon an' equalizer bar 2l the ends of which reston the tops of wheel axle journal boxes 2i. The Journal boxes 2l areconilned between guide-members 2l,

truck frame but the universal joints 32 and 3i permit freedom oftransverse and vertical movement thereof with respect to the truckframe.

, In like manner a. pair of links 38, one at each `en'il of the bolster,are secured to the universal Y Joints 33 and are in turn secured bymeans of universal joints 39 to a resilient unit 40 supported upon amounting' Il secured to the truck frame adjacent the forward endsthereof. The

links I8, similarly to the links 3l, normally extend longitudinallyofthe truck frame Il. By this construction the bolster member il is heldin spaced relationship longitudinally of the truck frame with respect tothe transoms 22 by means oi' four pivoted links, two secured to each endthereof and one pair extending forwardly and the other pair extendingrearwardly.

.is best mustered m Figs. e and a, the mount ing members 31 and li,which are identical, consist of a supporting base I2 by means of whichit is secured to the truck frame and an upright portion 43. The portion43 is in the form of an lannulus, the center portion M of which is ofrela= tively large diameter and relatively narrow, and

two side portions 45, which constitute annuli,

'each of the plates d8 and 'dit and the standard i3 is a rubber unit d5,as best illustrated in cross section in Fig. 3.

Each rubber unit 5b consists ci en annulus of rubber which is ofrelatively great width ac'ijaceni.y its outer periphery 5t and which isrelatively narrow in width ladjacent its inner periphery 5l. One vsideof the annulus is substantially dat and straight and has secured thereto'by lbonding a relatively wide fiat annular metallic plate 58, whichengages a correspondingly shaped surface on the plate 48. Theoppositeside of the rubber annulus 55 is of stepped construction so asto cooperate with the stepped construction of the mounting 43 formed bythe outer surfaces ofthe annular portionsv 44 and 45, the rubber member'55 having a substantially fiat surface 59 to which is secured arelatively narrow fiat annular plate 60, adapted to engage the sides 8.!of the annulus 44. The plate Sli is. likewise bonded to the rubbermember 55 by vuicanizing to a brass plated surface or the like. i l

y nulus 45 of the mounting Il. The bolt 41 is pro' vided with acentrally disposed sleeve 5l which surrounds the bolt and isydisposedwithin the to a torce sumciently violent in nature thatjthecompression of the outer portion .of the rubber is not sulcient toabsorb the load, the second or vnarrower portion of the rubber thenengages the face 63 and adds its resistance todefcrmation gitudinalmovement of the bolster member but.

which prevents excessive movement thereof and f which transmits arelatively light force vthrough a gently yielding mediumV and whichtransmits a relatively heavier force through the same medium providing amaterally increased resistance to deformation thereof. In other words,the rate oi deflection of the resilient unit is increased as thedeiecting force is increased beyond a predeteed amount.

Although we have illustrated but one form of our invention, andhavedescribed in detail but aV single application, Ait will be apparentto those skilled in the art that our invention is not so limited butthat various minor changes and modiiications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit of our invention or from the scope of theappended claims.4

We claim: l. In a railway vehicle truck,.a truck frame, a truck bolster,member movable relatively to said truck frame, and means for maintainingsaid bolster member 4within predetermined limits of movement withrespect to said frame comprising a mounting on said bolster member, amounting on said truck frame, linkage means extendingbetween saidmountings, means connecting said linkage means to one of said mountings,and a second means adapted to secure said linkage means to the othermounting, said second means comprising two spaced rigid plates securedto said linkage and disposed on opposite sides of openings in the annuli44, 45, 55, 58 and 60 but engages at its ends the rigid plates 68 and50. The purpose of the sleeve Se isfto permit drawing the plates t8 and5d together so as to compre'ss the outer portion of the rubber annulusbut to prevent compression of the inner portion of the rubber annulus,thus forming a gap t5, as

best shown in Fig. 3, between the surfaces $2 of the rubber annulus andthe surface S3 of the mounting annulus dii.

The purpose of this gap is to provide a portion of the rubber memberwhich is not normally under compression by reason of the tension exertedby the bolt dl and which comes into play by wey of resisting movement cione or the other of the plates and d@ toward the mounting by means of anincreased resisting force which is exerted after the gap has beenclosed. En other words. in the normal operation of the vehicles withlight loads the'preioading of the thicker portion of said mounting inspaced relationship therewith, and rubber members disposed intermediatesaid mounting and each of said rigid plates, said rubber memberscomprising portions respectively adapted to be placed in compressionunder diiler- 1 ent degrees of stress by movement of said bol- 2. In arailway vehicle truck, a truck frame, a truck bolster member movablerelatively to said truck frame, and means for maintaining said bolstermember within predetermined limits site sides of said mounting in spacedrelationship therewith, and rubber members disposed intermediate saidmounting and each of said rigid plates, saidrubber members being ofstepped construction and so disposed that one step is substantiallyiexed before stress is exerted on the next adjacent step.

3. lin a railway vehicle teneis, truclr frame, a

truck boistermernber movable relatively to said truck.; ira-me, andmeans for maintaining said bolster member within predetermined limits oimovement with respect to said frame comprising a mounting on saidbolster member, a mountthereoi'.

ing on said truck frame, linkage means extending 'between saidmountings, means connecting said ner portion is compressed.

4. In a railway vehicle truck, a truck frame, a truck bolster membermovable relatively to said truck frame, and means for maintaining saidbolster member within predetermined limits of movement with respect tosaid frame comprising amounting on said truck frame, linkage'meansextending between said mountings, means connecting said linkage means toone of said mountings, and a second means adapted to -secure saidlinkage means to the other mounting, said seoond means comprising aplateV secured to said linkage and disposedadiacent one vside of saidmounting'l a plate on the opposite side of said mounting, rubber membershaving portions of several diiIerent thicknesses disposed intermediatesaid plates and said mounting, and means adapted to hold said plates inengagement with said rubber members so as to compress the thickerportions thereof and leave the thinner por- A tions uncompressed.

5.' In a railway vehicle truck. a truck frame, a truck bolster membermovable relatively to said truck frame, and means for maintaining saidbolster member within predetermined limits of movement with respect tosaid frame comprising a mounting on said bolster member, a mounting onsaid truck frame, linkage means extending between said mountings, meansconnectlng said linkage means to one of 'said mountings, and a secondmeans adapte'd to secure said linkage means to the other mounting, saidsecond means comprising a plate secured to said linkage and disposedadjacent one side of said mounting, a plate on the opposite-side of saidmounting, rubber members having portions of several dillerentthicknesses disposed intermediate said plates and said mounting,threaded means adapted to engage said plates and draw them intoengagement with said rubber members, and a rigid spacing means extendingbetween said plates of suillcient 'length to permit said threaded meansto compress the thicker portions of the rubber members and prevent saidthreaded means from compressing the thinner portions 6. In a railwayvehicle truck, a truck frame, a truck bolster member movable relativelyto said truck frame, and means for maintaining said bolster memberwithin predetermined limits oi' movement with respect to said framecomprising a mounting on said bolster member, a mounting on said truckframe,'linkage means extending between said mountings, means connectingsaid linkage means to one oi said mountings, and a second means adaptedto secure said linkage means to the other mounting, said second meanscomprising a plate pivotally secured to said linkage means and disposedin proximity to said v faces and means adapted to draw said platestomounting, a second plate disposed on the opposite side of saidmounting, rubber members disposed intermediate said plates and saidmounting, and threaded means adapted to engage both of said plates tocompress the rubber members therebetween.

l 7. A resilient unit comprising an upright standard having atransversely disposed aperture extending therethrough, said standardhaving a portion of annular contour relatively narrow in width andrelatively large in diameter and a portion of annular contour relativelywide and 'relatively smaller in diameter, a pair of annular platesdisposed on opposite sides of said standard, a resilient member disposedbetween each plate and said standard comprising annular rubber elementshaving a portion of relatively great diameter and relatively widecompressed between a surface of` one of said plates and a surface ofsaid relatively narrow portion of said standard and a portion o!relativelysmall diameter and relatively narrow, disposed between asurface of said plate and a surface of said relatively wide portion ofsaid standard with one of its'sides normally in spaced relation to oneof said latter surwards eachother so as to compress said relatively wideportion of said .rubber elements.

8. A resilient unit comprising an upright standard having a transverselydisposed aperture extending therethrough, said standard having a portionof annular contour relatively narrow in width and relatively large 'indiameter and a portion of. annular contour relatively wide andrelatively smaller in diameter, a pair of annular plates disposed onopposite sides of said standard, a resilient member disposed betweeneach plate and said standard comprisingannular rubber elements having aportion of relatively great diameter and relatively wide and a lportionof relatively .smalldiameter and relatively narrow, and means adapted todraw said plates towards each other so l as to compress therelativelywide rubber portion against the' relatively narrow portion ofthe standard to compress the same before the relatively narrow rubberportion engages the relatively wide portion of the standard.

9.*A resilient 'unit comprising ,an upright standard having atransversely disposed aperture extending therethrough, said standardhaving a portion of -annular contour relatively narrow in width andrelativelylarge in diameter and a portion of annular contour relativelywide and relatively smaller in, diameter, a pair of annular platesdisposed on opposite sides of said standard, a resilient member disposedbetween each plate and said standard comprising annular rubber elementshaving a portion of relatively great diameter and relatively wide and aportion of relatively small diameter and relatively narrow, threadedmeans disposed within s'aid annuli engaging said plates and adapted todraw said plates towards each other so as to compress the relativelywide rubber portion against the relatively narrow portion o! thestandard, and a sleeve surrounding the central portion of said threadedmeans adapted to prevent said threaded means from compressing therelatively narrow rubber portion .against the relatively wide portion ofthe standard.

' WILLIAM VAN DER. SLUYS.

